Expanding Against the Trend: BASF Opens a World-Class HMD Plant in France

BASF announced the successful commissioning of its new world-scale hexamethylenediamine (HMD) plant in Charampes, France, which began construction in 2022. The new facility will increase BASF's annual HMD production capacity to 260,000 metric tons.

Stephan Kothrade, member of the BASF Executive Board, said: "This investment demonstrates BASF's firm commitment to European chemical production and our determination to support regional growth. This once again demonstrates how we put the "Winning Ways" strategy into practice, create long-term value for the company, and ensure future competitiveness in a turbulent economic environment."

This move is BASF's optimization initiative under the pressure of high energy consumption in Europe. Since 2022, affected by soaring energy prices and tightening business regulations, BASF has announced a "permanent" slimming down of its European operations, including significant cost cuts in non-production links, saving 1 billion euros to avoid loss of competitiveness.

The plant is an important part of BASF's strategic development of its European polyamide (PA) 6.6 business. In addition to the commissioning of the new HMD plant, BASF's PA 6.6 capacity expansion project in Freiburg, Germany has also entered the final stage.

The new generation of HMD plants in Charamphe is being expanded in parallel with the PA6.6 polymerization unit in Freiburg, ensuring the full chain from intermediates to high-end engineering plastics. This is a strategic continuation of the acquisition of Solvay's polyamide business in 2020, strengthening its leadership in the European PA 6.6 market.

Ramkumar Dhruva, President of BASF's Monomer Division, said: "The successful completion of this investment project is an important step towards our goal of becoming Europe's leading HMD supplier and preferred partner for PA 6.6. We have ideal conditions to reliably provide high-quality products to our customers."

BASF's production site in Alsace, France, supports the production and supply of HMD thanks to its proximity to key raw materials and mature industrial infrastructure. HMD is an important precursor for the production of PA 6.6 polymers and coatings, which are widely used in fields such as automobiles and fiber production.